Where’s the best place to do business in Asia? (It’s not Thailand)

Singapore, closely followed by South Korea, remains the best country in which to run a business, according to the World Bank. While Brunei, Thailand and India have registered the most notable improvement in the ease of doing business. Pakistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh are the region’s lowest ranked economies.

In the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business list, Singapore has been ranked as the second best country in the world in this year’s ease of doing business. It has consequently also proven to be the best country in Asia . It is followed by South Korea as the second best economy to do business in Asia.

Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand are the other countries in Asia which have been ranked high in the ease of doing business report. While Hong Kong has scored the fifth rank in the report, Taiwan and Malaysia have been ranked 15th and 24th respectively.

Thailand has been ranked 26th overall, and has registered strong improvement in the ease of doing business. The World Bank report, covering the period from June 2 last year to June 1 this year, tracks indicator areas such as the ease of starting a business, connecting to power grids, contract enforcement, taxes and bankruptcy proceedings.

The third largest economy in the world, Japan, has been ranked 34th, while Brunei and Mongolia have both been ranked 56th and 62nd. Importantly Brunei has been named the most improved economy in the world for the third year in a row.
China trails countries like Bhutan, Indonesia and Vietnam all of whom have been placed ahead of it in the ease of doing business report. The country has been placed at the 78th position in the report, same as last year.

South Asian neighbours India, Nepal and Sri Lanka have grabbed the 100th, 105th and 111th spot in the rankings. India moved up 30 positions in the ease of doing business rankings report as compared to last year, mostly driven by reforms in access to credit, power supplies and protection of minority investors. However, the World Bank report noted that India lags in areas such as “starting a business”, “enforcing contracts” and “dealing with construction permits.”

Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar are the lowest ranked Asian countries in the ease of doing business report. Bangladesh has been ranked the lowest at 177, while Pakistan has been ranked 147th. Myanmar, which recently opened up its economy to the world, has been ranked 171th overall.

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